Fire Energy Hunting Competition: Luck or Strength?

When Yao Lao's voice rang out in his mind, Xiao Yan was circulating a faint trace of Dou Qi, imitating the cultivation of someone at the Dou Qi Third Stage. His eyelids lifted slightly, a flicker of understanding crossing his eyes before he resumed his display of "struggling to cultivate." He replied inwardly, Teacher, we're in Jia Nan Academy's Inner Academy now.

"Jia Nan Academy?" Yao Lao sounded somewhat surprised. "How did you end up there? With your previous condition, you probably couldn't even get into the Outer Academy, could you?"

Xiao Yan laughed inwardly, but his face showed distress, as though his stagnant cultivation troubled him. It's a long story. Some things happened back in Wutan City, and later I stumbled my way through the Inner Academy's assessment... He kept his explanation vague, concealing his transmigration and the system while briefly recounting a few inconsequential experiences.

Yao Lao was only half convinced, but he did not press further. He merely sighed. "The Inner Academy of Jia Nan Academy is a fine place to cultivate, especially that Heavenly Flame Qi Refining Tower. There seems to be a Heavenly Flame sealed beneath it. If you can seize the opportunity to absorb it, your Flame Mantra will benefit greatly."

Don't worry, Teacher. I understand, Xiao Yan replied, then changed the subject. But competition in the Inner Academy is fierce. With my meager cultivation, I'm afraid it'll be difficult to secure a cultivation slot in the Heavenly Flame Qi Refining Tower.

"That is a problem..." Yao Lao pondered for a moment. "Very well. During my slumber, I recovered some strength. Perhaps I can help you refine pills to exchange for fire energy."

This was exactly what Xiao Yan wanted. He needed Yao Lao, his "plausible cheat," to explain away the "extraordinary" abilities he occasionally displayed. He therefore feigned delight. Thank you, Teacher!

[System notification: Successfully guided Yao Lao into participating in the plan, maintaining the plausibility of your persona. Awarded the title "Master of Disguise" (basic). Equipping it slightly reduces others' suspicion.]

Dismissing the system notification in his mind, Xiao Yan ended his "cultivation," rose, and pushed the door open. Under Inner Academy rules, new students had to participate in the fire energy hunting competition within three days. It was the Inner Academy's first "show of force" against the newcomers, and an excellent opportunity for him to further cement his "useless trash" persona.

The fire energy hunting competition took place in a dense woodland between the Outer Academy and the Inner Academy, known as the Hunting Forest. Dozens of new students had already gathered outside it. Most were Dou Shi, while a handful had reached Da Dou Shi. Someone like Xiao Yan, who was only at the Dou Qi Third Stage, truly was one of a kind.

"Look, that's the trash at the Dou Qi Third Stage!"

"He actually dares to enter the fire energy hunting competition? Isn't he asking to die?"

"Maybe he just wants to scrape together some points. You get a guaranteed ten points of fire energy just for participating, after all."

As the chatter reached his ears, Xiao Yan remained expressionless, standing quietly at the edge of the crowd. He noticed several particularly sharp gazes among the students. One belonged to a young man dressed in black, his lips bearing the faintest cold sneer. It was Zhao Hu, who had mocked him at the Outer Academy's entrance.

Besides Zhao Hu, a sinister-looking young man was also watching him. The badge on his chest indicated that he was a Da Dou Shi, and his eyes held an unfriendly gleam, as though he were scheming something. Xiao Yan's attention stirred. His emperor realm soul quietly reached out, instantly detecting a faint wisp of black energy deep within the man's soul—the distinctive aura of the Soul Hall.

A Soul Hall spy? He arrived sooner than expected. Xiao Yan betrayed nothing, committing the man's appearance to memory and planning to find an opportunity to dispose of him.

Just then, an Inner Academy instructor clad in silver armor approached, carrying a bronze gong. With a clang, the gong sounded, and the gathering immediately fell silent.

"You all understand the rules, correct?" The instructor swept his gaze over them. "Once you enter the Hunting Forest, you have six hours. Killing magical beasts earns you points, and seizing other students' Fire Energy Tokens also earns you points. The top fifty scorers will be allowed to cultivate in the Inner Academy's core area for one week. First place receives an additional hundred points of fire energy!"

After a pause, the instructor's gaze settled on Xiao Yan, and his brows creased slightly. "Are you sure you want to participate? Even the weakest beasts in the Hunting Forest are Tier 1 Magical Beasts. With your cultivation, you'd be serving yourself up on a platter."

Xiao Yan lowered his head, a hint of stubbornness in his voice. "I want to try."

The instructor shook his head and offered no further persuasion, merely waving his hand. "All right, everyone, get ready. Your time starts now!"

The moment he finished speaking, dozens of new students shot into the Hunting Forest like arrows loosed from a bow. Only Xiao Yan dawdled, not moving a step for quite some time.

As Zhao Hu passed him, he deliberately bumped into him and sneered under his breath. "Trash, don't get lost in there. Come back out early and make a spectacle of yourself."

Xiao Yan staggered backward several steps. Watching Zhao Hu's retreating figure, a cold glint flashed through his eyes.

He did not rush into the depths of the forest. Instead, he wandered slowly along its outskirts, occasionally kicking pebbles beneath his feet, looking utterly bewildered and helpless. When he encountered a few Tier 1 Magical Beasts, he merely flailed his rusty iron sword in "panic," never even touching their fur. Instead, he recoiled repeatedly in fright, until the beasts finally lost patience and wandered off.

[System notification: Perfectly portrayed "useless trash" fleeing in panic. Acting proficiency +5.]

"..." Xiao Yan had thoroughly lost the will to argue with this system.

He ambled over to a stream and pretended to quench his thirst, while actually spreading his soul power across the entire Hunting Forest. Everything within the forest lay before him: Zhao Hu was leading several others in a vicious assault on a Tier 2 Magical Beast; the Soul Hall spy was ambushing students from the shadows and taking their Fire Energy Tokens; and many newcomers were fighting until their heads split and blood flowed over a single Tier 1 Magical Beast.

How boring. Xiao Yan yawned. Just as he was about to find some amusement, he sensed a fight nearby. One of the auras felt somewhat familiar.

He followed the sounds and saw a girl in green beneath a large tree, surrounded by three Tier 1 Magical Wolves and caught in one perilous moment after another. She looked sixteen or seventeen and was a mid-stage Dou Shi. She was Xiao Yu, the junior fellow disciple of Liu Fei, who had helped him out at the Outer Academy's entrance.

Long sword in hand, Xiao Yu fought desperately to fend off the wolves. Several wounds already marked her body, and her breathing had grown ragged.

Damn it, how did I run into three magical wolves! Xiao Yu cursed inwardly through gritted teeth. One wolf was about to leap upon her, but her strength was already exhausted. All she could do was close her eyes and await death.

Just then, a "panicked" figure burst out of the nearby bushes and crashed straight into that wolf.

"Awooo!" The wolf staggered from the collision and angrily turned toward the "culprit"—Xiao Yan.

The wolf's ferocious stare frightened Xiao Yan's face deathly pale. He waved his rusty iron sword frantically. "D-don't come any closer!"

His pathetic display did not frighten the wolf at all. Instead, it roused its ferocity. The other two wolves abandoned Xiao Yu as well and lunged at Xiao Yan together.

Seeing this, Xiao Yu grew both furious and anxious. "What's wrong with you? Run!"

But Xiao Yan seemed petrified, standing motionless. Just as the three wolves were about to tear him apart, his foot "accidentally" slipped. He toppled backward, and his rusty iron sword also "slipped from his hand," flying out and plunging squarely into one wolf's eye.

"Awooo!" The wolf let out a piercing howl and collapsed to the ground, twitching.

The other two wolves froze for a moment, apparently unable to comprehend how this "trash" had managed to injure their companion.

In that instant, Xiao Yan grabbed a branch beside him in his "panic" and swung it "with all his strength." The branch whistled through the air and struck another wolf across the nose. The seemingly feeble blow carried an almost imperceptible trace of soul power, which shattered the wolf's brain outright.

That wolf fell stiffly to the ground without even a whimper.

The last wolf flew into a complete rage, opening its bloody maw as it lunged at Xiao Yan. He stumbled backward in "terror," "accidentally" stepped on a stone, and rolled backward, narrowly avoiding its pounce. Having lunged too recklessly, the wolf slammed headfirst into the large tree behind him and died with its brains bursting apart.

In mere moments, all three Tier 1 Magical Wolves were dead.

Xiao Yu stared at the scene, dumbfounded, as though she were witnessing some fantastical tale. Th-this actually worked?

Xiao Yan climbed to his feet and brushed off the dirt, his face still showing lingering fright. Even his voice trembled as he looked at Xiao Yu. "Th-they're all dead?"

Xiao Yu swallowed and nodded. Her gaze toward Xiao Yan became extraordinarily complicated. Was it luck? Or...

She shook her head, casting that absurd thought from her mind. How could a useless nobody at the Dou Qi Third Stage possibly have the strength to kill three Tier 1 Magical Wolves? It had to be luck. Definitely luck!

"Th-thank you," Xiao Yu said awkwardly. She simply could not connect the "trash" before her with that string of "coincidences."

Xiao Yan smiled shyly. "N-no need to thank me. It was just a coincidence."

Just then, several figures emerged from the woods nearby, led by none other than Zhao Hu. He looked at the three wolf corpses on the ground, then at Xiao Yan and Xiao Yu, and immediately seemed to understand something. Greed spread across his face. "Did you two kill these three wolves?"

Xiao Yu frowned. "What's it to you?"

Zhao Hu scoffed. "In the Hunting Forest, whoever grabs it gets to keep it! Kid, hand over the wolves' point tokens, or don't blame me for getting rough!" The others behind him closed in as well, bristling with menace.

Fear appeared on Xiao Yan's face, and he instinctively stepped back.

Xiao Yu moved in front of Xiao Yan and said coldly, "Zhao Hu, don't go too far!"

"Too far?" Zhao Hu grinned viciously. "A piece of trash and a little girl dare fight me for loot? Get them!"

At his command, the others immediately lunged at Xiao Yu. Though she fought desperately, she was outnumbered. Soon she was overwhelmed and kicked to the ground.

Zhao Hu approached Xiao Yan and reached for the Fire Energy Token at his waist. "Hand it over, trash!"

Just as his hand was about to touch the token, Xiao Yan's foot "slipped," and he fell sideways, colliding neatly with Zhao Hu's arm. Zhao Hu felt a strange force surge through it. His arm went numb, and his hand grasped empty air.

"Huh?" Zhao Hu paused, assuming he had simply failed to get a firm grip, then reached out again.

This time, Xiao Yan raised his hand to block in "panic," and the hilt of his rusty iron sword "accidentally" struck Zhao Hu's wrist.

With a soft crack, Zhao Hu's wrist snapped.

"Aaargh!" Zhao Hu screamed, clutching his broken wrist as he backed away several steps. He stared at Xiao Yan in disbelief. "Y-you dared to pull a dirty trick on me?!"

Xiao Yan looked utterly innocent. "I... I didn't mean to. You were the one who wasn't careful..."

"Bullshit!" Zhao Hu's fury boiled over. "Cripple him!"

The remaining students exchanged glances. Although they found what had just happened rather strange, they still surrounded Xiao Yan with vicious grins.

Xiao Yan looked at them, an almost imperceptible cold gleam flashing through his eyes.

It was time to end this game.

He turned and ran in "panic," but his pace was "pitifully slow," and they were about to catch him. Just then, a vine "suddenly" tripped him, pitching him forward straight into a large tree.

His pursuers could not stop in time and crashed into one another, tumbling into chaos. In an even greater "coincidence," a rotten branch overhead snapped at that exact moment and fell squarely onto one of their heads, knocking him unconscious.

The others jumped in fright. Before they could react, they saw Xiao Yan "struggle" to his feet with a stone in his hand. He threw it in his "panic," striking another pursuer squarely in the knee. The man screamed and collapsed.

At the sight, the last man was so frightened that his soul nearly fled his body. He did not dare take another step forward, turning instead to flee.

In the blink of an eye, Zhao Hu was the only one left of the group he had brought.

Shocked and furious, Zhao Hu stared at Xiao Yan with eyes full of fear. This trash... there was definitely something wrong with him!

Clutching his broken wrist, he shot Xiao Yan a venomous look, then turned and ran. He was afraid. He felt that this trash was a walking jinx, and if he stayed any longer, he might lose his life.

Watching Zhao Hu's bedraggled retreat, Xiao Yan's lips curved into a faint smile.

Xiao Yu climbed up from the ground and walked over to Xiao Yan, looking at him with a complicated expression. "You..."

Xiao Yan scratched his head and smiled shyly. "It was all coincidence. Just good luck."

Xiao Yu opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but ultimately only sighed. "It isn't safe here. We should leave right away."

Xiao Yan nodded and followed Xiao Yu toward the depths of the forest.

Sunlight spilled through the gaps between the leaves, casting dappled light and shadows across the ground. No one noticed Xiao Yan's shadow twist slightly beneath the sunlight, as though concealing some unknown secret.

Deep within the Hunting Forest, the bloody struggle over fire energy and points continued. Yet the seemingly most insignificant piece of "trash" had already, quietly, become the most dangerous presence in this game.